Crimson Sands
by Drake S. Hellion
Summary: "Things are about to get Ugly, Crimson!" "Sir, things are already ugly." Crimson Leader watched the overwhelming Covenant forces approach. Enough firepower to destroy two battalions of tanks and infantry. Piss poor odds for the Covenant... Vickers thought with a grin behind his visor. Oneshot. My closing to the final mission of Spartan-Ops Episode 5 chapter 5. RnR. I own nothing!


**Crimson Sands**

_Author Note: An idea that popped into my head after Spartan-Ops Episode 5-Chapter 5, Crimson faces off against the overwhelming Covenant force._

**Start!**

"Oh God! What was that?!" Spartan Miller cried over the com channel as the Pelican that had been sent to retrieve Fireteam Crimson was reduced to scrap in a brilliant show of sparks, flame and molten metal.

Roland went on to explain that "Numerous" Covenant forces were inbound on Crimson's position. How much was numerous you might ask? Well. Lots.

The four Spartans of Crimson Team stood on the desert hilltop, watching as Phantoms, Banshees and even a CCS-Class Cruiser drifted into view. Enough firepower to wipe out to two full battalions of tanks, infantry and a base without so much as scoffing. And all that firepower was devoted to levelling Crimson into the sands.

"Get ready Crimson! Things are about to get ugly!" Miller said.

"Sir," Crimson Fireteam Leader, Spartan Vickers, said in reply. "It was ugly the moment our boots touched ground." He hefted up his MA5D and check the ammunition counter. 07. "Hmm," he looked back to his team. "Boris, up on that ridge, take out those Banshees!"

Boris, a Spartan decked in pitch black RECON armor with a hellish red visor holding an SRS99-S5 AM rifle, Nodded, turned and disappeared from view due to his Camoflage module. Vickers knew Boris would do his duty.

"Malcolm, take a hog and grab any unspent Spartan lasers you can find, we'll need them for those Phantoms." Vickers gestured to the largest Spartan on their team, who was wearing a mixture of EOD chest plating, EVA pauldrons and an Air Assault helm.

"Never a boring day for Crimson," He muttered, turning and sprinting back towards their Warthog that had been ever so helpful in clearing out the last portion of their mission.

Vickers turned back to the opposing forces, the Phantoms hovered over the dirt on the over passing ridge of the UNSC outpost, there they dropped scores of Jackals, Grunts and several teams of Elites. Along with four Wraiths and almost a dozen Ghosts. The dropships lifted off, then sped off back towards the Cruiser.

So, they wanted to take Crimson the old fashion way first, eh? Vickers smirked. Let them try. "Malcolm, belay the order on those lasers. The area just got scorching hot." He com'd his teammate. "Vals," he turned to the last member of their team. The Rookie, wearing WARRIOR armor set. "You and Malcolm get to gun and drive."

"Got it!" Vals turned and sprinted down the way Malcolm had gone.

Vickers turned back around to survey the enemy again… only to see the second sun of a plasma mortar coming down at him. He stood his ground, frowning and raising his arms. A moment later the plasma impacted, the air filled with heat and blue fire… then cleared to reveal the Crimson leader still standing in his full Enforcer gear intact. He lowered his Hardlight shield, stepped forward and spread his arms to the opposing Covenant force.

"Come and get us you ugly sons of bitches!"

With that taunt, he raised his rifle. Reloaded and took cover behind a rock when two more mortars impacted the ground where he'd been a moment before, turning the sand to glass. The subtle buzz of anti-grav thrusters filled his ears and overhead two Banshees flew over, around and dove towards him with their plasma cannons warming.

Two cracks of distant thunder sounded. Their hulls sparked and the Banshees plummeted from the sky.

Boris was damned good. He had often been praised by Instructor Linda Waltoris at the Spartan Training Center on Mars, for his accuracy and ingenuity with the weapon.

Vickers moved from his cover, levelling his assault rifle and firing bursts into the advancing Grunts and Jackals, killing some and wounding more. He reloaded quickly, repeated the process until Malcolm and Vals sped over a dune, catching some serious air while Vals screamed through the comm.

"What you got bitches?! What you got!?"

The mounted gun on the Hog spun to life and let loose a hail of large cailber can of "Fuck you!" On the Covenant forces, tearing the unshielded Grunts to pieces, Jackels who couldn't raise their shields in time to block the hail of death were shredded like their smaller counterparts. Elites ducked behind what cover they could, others charged the hog as it move through the front line of their large formation. Running whatever got in their way over.

"Got Grunt bits all in the grill!" Malcolm laughed. "Keep that gun hot, Vals! It's going to get better!"

The Hog bucked once when they hit a golden armored General Elite, killing it. It's body also stuck to the front, its face slammed into the hood of the Hog. "That is one ugly hood ornament." Vals joked.

"I got it half off!" Malcolm fell in stride with the joke. "Don't judge me!"

"You guys are children in power armor," Vickers gave a grin behind his visor as he glanced movement on the ridge tops of the left side rock formations. He squinted and his visor moved to its maximum two times zoom. He saw Jackals with Beam rifles peaking over the ridge, targeting the hog.

"Boris, Jackals on the ridge."

"I see them." Boris whispered back.

Three cracks. Three headless Jackals.

Malcolm drove the hog straight though their formation and out the back, the front of his vehicle was covered in Covenant blood and gore, Vals spun the ground and shot the Covenant in the back. "Spin this tub around, lets make another pass!" he cheered.

"Yeah, I think my girl can handle that." The Hog itself was smoking due to the multiple impacts of plasma on the front of its armor. But Malcolm was the brains when it came to vehicles, if he said it could take it. It could. The hog spun, kicking up sand with its rear tires before it turned a full one-eighty and jerked forward back towards the Covenant.

Jackals and Elites turned to them. The Jackals raised theirs shields into a Phalanx formation. Their Elite commanders levelled their storm rifles and opened fired, peppering the hog with fire to try and deter another pass at them. Malcolm didn\'t slow, if nothing more he accelerated. Vals continued to fire wildly, his turret barrels warming to a dull red.

Two Elites appeared behind the others, On their shoulders were large Fuel Rod Guns.

Crack, Crack. "Heavy arms down," Boris said. "Clear them."

The some Jackals broke formation, turned and ran to avoid the Hog. Others fired with their Elite commanders. The Hog didn't falter. Malcolm cheered, Vals held down the trigger.

The Hog struck the Covenant rear formation. Crushing Jackals, Elite and Grunts under tire again.

The forward lines turned around at the threat, raising their weapons to combine their considerable firepower on the human vehicle. Which swerved to avoind a hail of plasma grenades. A formation of Banshees turned and fell down towards them, peppering their hull with plasma bolts as they passed over them. Malcolm and Vals had the Covenant's focus. Another plasma mortar struck the ground next to them and the overpressure sent them tumbling through the air, the hog spinning as both Spartans jumped off mid roll, Malcolm landing in a roll onto his feet with his MA5D raised.

He fired into the nearest Elite. Tearing its shields apart and gunning it down. Vals hit the ground, skid to a stop on his own legs and fired into a pair of Grunts who watched as the still rolling Hog rolled through their comrades ranks, crushing their fellows until it finally came to a rest on its side.

The hog sputtered once. Boris sighted it through his Oracle-D variant scope, he waited until the Covenant moved over to it to use as Cover from the pair of Spartans in their midst who had deployed their auto-sentry guns and where now tearing into the confused enemy. He fired once. The round struck the hog's main fuel line.

It ignited to become a large frag grenade. The nearest Covies exploded due to the pressure wave and beyond those were shredded by large and small pieces of Hog armor turned shrapnel. He sighted a Grunt a crawling away with a piece of armor in its back. He didn't waste the bullet and instead sighted the three Banshees from before, they turned to make another pass.

He sighted the leader.

Malcolm jumped to the side when Vals yelled, "Mortar!" The Three Wraiths were at a distance, bombing their position. And their fellow Covenant, with angered zeal. Seems they really, REALLY wanted Crimson dead. Malcolm turned his com on, "Vick, we have Wraiths bombing us! You have anything to help us!"

He punched an Elite in the face. Turned when another was behind him, rushing him with a Sword. He gulped, raising his half spent MA5D and yelled, "Bring it on!"

The Elite raised its sword… then was crushed by a riderless Banshee that fell from the sky. Another skid to the stop a few feet away and the last turned to move off, apparently not wanting to risk being shot down either. It neared the rock wall out of the op zone… then plummeted when another rifle shot echoed out.

A red beam streaked across the air. Struck the closest Wraith in view and the large vehicle exploded beautifully. Vickers still had his own laser from earlier. "Malcolm, Vals, it's getting hot down there." He told them, "Grab those Banshees and take to the air!"

Malcolm moved to the Banshee that crushed the sword Elite." Excuse me, mate," he pulled the dead body from the cockpit, slid inside and powered up the vehicle.. .then sped forward and rammed a few Jackals and Grunt before lifting off into the air, plasma bolts whizzing by. Vals joined him a moment later.

"Status?" Vickers asked.

"My cockpit displays are bloody, but good." Malcolm replied. Vals replied much the same as him. "Turning around for a bombing run, Vals, stay on my four-o clock! Strafe these bastards!"

Their twin plasma cannons let loose a deadly stream of bolts into the scattering Grunts and Jackals, the Elite futilely returned fire until they were felled by Boris' extreme accuracy. The Banshee pair finished their pass, lifted up to avoid two plasma mortars and spun around for another pass on the infantry.

Vickers watched from his perch. Nodding with satisfaction, what had been about two hundred infantry troops, now reduced to a few dozen and several lumps of burning Covenant metal. "Boris! Take those Wraith's out, I can't have them getting lucky against our air."

"Sir." Boris confirmed.

A single shot rang out. One Wraith's driver hatch pinged with a light spark, then it floated off into a rock where it stayed. The other turned, having had time to trace the shot. It's plasma Mortar charged… then it took floated off aimlessly when Boris denied its driver the satisfaction of firing said mortar shell.

Vickers turned back to the Cruiser to see it release a new swarm of Banshees and Phantoms. He grinned, "Crimson. We got incoming late party goers. Malcolm, Vals. Engage those airbornes, no need to let them unload their passangers on our ground."

"Sir!" The two vehicle experts replied and turned to face the new targets. Their fuel rod cannons let loose a volley of the deadly explosive shells. They impacted the first two Banshees in the front of the formation. Reducing them to scrap. They broke into rolls to avoid the enemy's return fire… then, the dog fighting began.

Two enemy Banshees drifted off to the ground. Boris' doing.

Another exploded when a rocket impacted its side. Then another. Vickers reloaded his rocket, grabbed a fresh pair from the ammo crate at his side he had run to when he saw how many fliers there were.

Soon, the last two Banshees were gone and that left the seven Phantoms. Their gunners dead due a mixture of Boris' sniping and Vals Strafing runs. Now, the fire team focused on the Phantoms, who diligently tried to get to ground to drop off their troops. The first two drifted lazily to the left to try and avoid the two green plasma bolts fired from Vals and Malcolm. Their sluggish craft didn't make it, the sides exploded into a fury of plasma fire and melted metal.

They plummeted a few feet, then exploded.

The others suddenly veered off. Vicker frowned, that wasn't normal. "Where are they going?"

"Crimson! The Cruiser's main battery is charging to fire! You really pissed them off!" Miller reported. Sure enough, the CCS Cruiser's main gun began to gather energy. They were going to glass Crimson.

"Malcolm, Vals, hit the ground and grab lasers, bring two more for me. All of you, double time it to my position. Now!" They only had one shot at this, the Covenant needed to drop their shields to fire their weaponry, and that beam left a huge gap in their shields while it built up a charge. That would be Crimson's shot.

In record time his team assembled, they hefted up their rockets. "Aim for the battery and synch fire on the center of that energy sphere." Vickers ordered, raising his weapon and scoping in on the gathering mass. "Now!" They charged their lasers.

The Cruiser's battery brightened. Four beams of red cut into the center mass of the gather plasma. The sphere brightened further…

Then it exploded, hull melted and peeled away around the blast. Fires broke out across the outer hull of the Cruiser, continued by the shields. The Cruiser listed off to the right, slowly losing altitude. Crimson waited, watching as the ship fell.

"Good work, Crimson," Vickers lowered his weapon.

The Cruiser exploded in a flash of plasma fire, purple-blue lightning and superheated hull.

"Damn fine work." Vickers added with a grin before he turned his com online. "Spartan Miller, Crimson Leader here, my team and I have cleared the LZ. Don't send any birds," he glanced to the several intact Banshees across the field. "We have our own ride home. Be back in time for din-din."

"Uh…" Miller was speechless. "That's great, Crimson! Well… see you back on Infinity."

"You guys." Roland said in genuine awe. "Are so badass."

"Of course we are," Vickers grinned wider. "We're Crimson Team."

**End!**

**There it is! Review! COMMENT! LOVE IT!**


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